A few years ago, companies could function very well even if they stayed away from using the Internet and new technologies to expand. Those companies that were pioneers in the digital era have already surpassed their competitors. What is the situation today? Today, everything has changed thanks to technology. The transition from physical to digital is absolutely necessary to connect with customers, based on the statistics below. So why use a CRM in sales and marketing?
Even if you run an offline SMB, but you can't offer a personalized experience to your customers and you don't use the internet to keep in touch, you are signing the death warrant for your business.
The fact is that, due to fierce competition, attracting and keeping customers the old-fashioned way is no longer effective. And this is where technology comes into play, namely CRM tools in sales.
What is CRM? It's the acronym for customer relationship management. Its main purpose is to help companies build long-lasting relationships with customers. In fact, some of the modern systems have already gone far beyond that limit. They have evolved into business management software that can manage many other aspects and processes.
What is the role of CRM in sales?
Better lead management
According to a study by Aberdeen Group, 63% of the companies with the highest sales revenue growth in 2020 were using lead management technology such as CRM. This software provides deeper insight into le
Even if you run an offline SMB, but you can't offer a personalized experience to your customers and you don't use the internet to keep in touch, you are signing the death warrant for your business.
The fact is that, due to fierce competition, attracting and keeping customers the old-fashioned way is no longer effective. And this is where technology comes into play, namely CRM tools in sales.
What is CRM? It's the acronym for customer relationship management. Its main purpose is to help companies build long-lasting relationships with customers. In fact, some of the modern systems have already gone far beyond that limit. They have evolved into business management software that can manage many other aspects and processes.
What is the role of CRM in sales?
Better lead management
According to a study by Aberdeen Group, 63% of the companies with the highest sales revenue growth in 2020 were using lead management technology such as CRM. This software provides deeper insight into le
Cross-selling and up-selling more effectively
CRM in sales collects a wealth of customer data: purchase history, behavioral patterns, preferences to identify their needs ... This creates personalized offers that can be relevant to customers. Not only sales and revenue increase, but also customer satisfaction with the service.
Less routine tasks
A CRM is effective in managing common processes that can make a small difference to profitability, but require a lot of time on a daily basis. Instead, salespeople can focus on closing deals and reaching customers. In addition, CRM is not prone to "human error".
Tracking and analysis
CRM in sales is capable of tracking lead data. With this, the return on investment can be evaluated. It shows which revenue streams are the most important to focus on. Other analytics features include creating sales forecasts, monitoring the sales funnel and identifying customer delivery points, effective budget management, etc.
Building customer relationships
Today, the focus of any business has shifted from customer acquisition to customer loyalty. Building trust with customers has become one of its main tasks. A CRM offers multiple opportunities to create a loyal customer base. It collects customer contact data and provides information about every customer interaction. This provides a better understanding of customer needs and ensures personalized service.
What is the role of CRM in marketing?
Multichannel marketing
Today, CRMs have multichannel marketing functionality that enables simultaneous marketing campaigns across different sales channels and touch points, such as mail, email, mobile, social media, web, etc.
Social branding
It can be overwhelming for any business (especially those that have recently started their business) to promote their brand on multiple social media platforms. By using CRM in sales and marketing, monitoring and managing the company's social media presence is much more efficient and less time consuming. It allows you to track mentions of any brand/product and react instantly to them, evaluate the response of social media campaigns, etc. In addition, the CRM solution allows you to track customers' online activity. An added value to identify what they need.
Normal segmentation and optimized segmentation
CRM is capable of collecting and storing a large amount of information. Marketers can segment customers much more precisely. There are numerous criteria, from geographic location to financial details, previous interactions, etc. As a result, the messages and content delivered to them are much better targeted and, consequently, receive a better response.
Data-driven marketing
A CRM allows marketers to obtain data-driven information: the results of numerous marketing campaigns measured in figures and reflected in various graphs and charts. This information is a necessary condition for efficient campaign budget allocation and resource adjustment. It can mean tracking the conversions resulting from certain marketing activities and campaigns, and it is certainly useful for determining which campaigns provide the best ROI and should be carried out and which should be dropped.
Examples of CRM systems for sales
A good CRM for sales centralizes and controls all commercial operations. If you choose the right one for your company, you will integrate a tool that will optimize your productivity.
Here are some of the best systems for managing sales in your business:
1. Venzo, a CRM for sales that strengthens sales teams.
Venzo CRM focuses on the present. Its goal is to increase sales in the present day. It works to identify each customer at all times, with a focus on closing transactions. Venzo operates in a simple and agile way. The user concentrates his attention on the customer and sales, and does not need to think about the CRM, because it guides him.
The software manages emails, telephones and visits, stimulating and protecting business relationships, always with a focus on customers and their demands. It integrates technological intelligence and automatisms that contribute to customer satisfaction. It keeps in memory all records of customer data and operations performed.
And if we talk about control, the manager or entrepreneur visualizes at any time the status of the situation of his business.
Web: Venzo
2. Clientify, the CRM in sales enhanced with marketing actions
The customer generation process is at the heart of Clientify's operations. It accompanies the transformation of the lead into a customer. It suggests interventions at the right time, avoiding deal leakage.
This software integrates a social search tool with all the public information of each contact on the Internet. Its 360-degree vision professionalizes customer service and increases customer satisfaction. It integrates functionalities for the implementation of email marketing strategies and landig pages.
A powerful dashboard centralizes the control of the status of sales actions and salespeople. And it also allows connections with more than a thousand applications.
How much does it cost? The Premium Plan costs 39 € per month. It includes up to 10,000 contacts.
Web: Clientify
3. Repcamp, up to date with the latest technological advances
Order management and sales opportunity tracking are smart features of Repcamp. The salesperson has everything he needs to serve a customer on the screen at the click of a button. It reduces the risk of error in order management and keeps the whole team up to date with the product catalog, prices and stock.
Automation saves time on administrative tasks and allows time to be spent on what really matters: selling.
Focuses on the mobility of the salesperson. Flexible, agile and adapted to the needs of the business, Repcamp is an excellent CRM option for sales.
How much does it cost to work with Repcamp? It comes in 4 versions. One is free, available for 1 user. The other three cost £16, £36 and £56. They vary in allowed users and functionalities.
Web: Repcamp
4. Salesnet, a CRM for sales that ensures effectiveness in commercial operations
Salesnet is a flexible and customizable business solution. It focuses its operations on sales and marketing. Its workflow engine anticipates actions to be taken and generates sales opportunities. It moves salespeople to plan their next intervention, based on the customer's situation in the sales process.
Salesnet integrates with various external applications and platforms, increasing the chances of success. It incorporates valuable tools not only for salespeople, but also specific tools for administrators. Its control panel allows the visualization of the status of negotiations at all times. In addition, it generates essential reports for improvement.
5. Citrix Podio, with optimized lead and transaction control
Citrix Podio emphasizes collaboration and sharing for improvement. The idea is to keep the database permanently updated with the records of all users. The sales force always has up-to-date information on leads and customers. With integrated web forms, Podio captures contact information and assigns it to teams.
The Citrix CRM for sales is easy to configure and customize. It doesn't overload the team with data they don't need, as you can enable only the data that is useful to their role. It allows you to add files and integrates with applications such as Google Drive and ShareFile. This makes it possible to share records and closed agreements with the team.
Product sheet: Citrix Podio
6. Forcemanager. Take your company to the next level with this CRM for sales.
Forcemanager is an excellent sales assistant that has a direct impact on results. The intelligence applied to the commercial area, detects latent opportunities and potential clients. It facilitates the increase of sales and the conversion of potential clients into portfolio clients.
Suitable for mobility, it is ideal for teams located in multiple locations. Records information anytime, anywhere. Allows immediate access to the most important data before, during and after each customer visit. Plans sales campaigns and commercial follow-up. Manages the flow and detects improvement points.
Forcemanager collaborates in the decision making of the company, from monitoring and reports of the team results.
Product sheet: Forcemanager
7. Ines CRM. Accelerate the growth of your company.
Ines CRM has an organized historical record of email exchanges, appointments and transactions with each customer. It points out relevant business opportunities, allows you to manage budgets and projects. All customer relationship control is centralized in this CRM for sales.
It favors the productivity of the sales force, as it gathers all the data coming from the different areas of the company. In this way, no information about the customer escapes the eyes of the salesperson. More knowledge results in better service and, as a consequence, in customer satisfaction.
Web: Ines CRM
Conclusion
We focused on the role of CRM in sales and marketing, and listed the benefits in both areas. However, one of the advantages of a customer relationship management system is to bring all employees together, enabling and encouraging cooperation and data sharing, rather than creating data silos within individual departments or competing with each other. This software is no longer limited to large corporations. It is now widely used by all types of companies, thanks to the variety of solutions tailored to different needs. SMEs are also adopting CRM systems, as they streamline their processes, optimize the need for additional manpower and help build lasting relationships with their customers.
CRM in sales collects a wealth of customer data: purchase history, behavioral patterns, preferences to identify their needs ... This creates personalized offers that can be relevant to customers. Not only sales and revenue increase, but also customer satisfaction with the service.
Less routine tasks
A CRM is effective in managing common processes that can make a small difference to profitability, but require a lot of time on a daily basis. Instead, salespeople can focus on closing deals and reaching customers. In addition, CRM is not prone to "human error".
Tracking and analysis
CRM in sales is capable of tracking lead data. With this, the return on investment can be evaluated. It shows which revenue streams are the most important to focus on. Other analytics features include creating sales forecasts, monitoring the sales funnel and identifying customer delivery points, effective budget management, etc.
Building customer relationships
Today, the focus of any business has shifted from customer acquisition to customer loyalty. Building trust with customers has become one of its main tasks. A CRM offers multiple opportunities to create a loyal customer base. It collects customer contact data and provides information about every customer interaction. This provides a better understanding of customer needs and ensures personalized service.
What is the role of CRM in marketing?
Multichannel marketing
Today, CRMs have multichannel marketing functionality that enables simultaneous marketing campaigns across different sales channels and touch points, such as mail, email, mobile, social media, web, etc.
Social branding
It can be overwhelming for any business (especially those that have recently started their business) to promote their brand on multiple social media platforms. By using CRM in sales and marketing, monitoring and managing the company's social media presence is much more efficient and less time consuming. It allows you to track mentions of any brand/product and react instantly to them, evaluate the response of social media campaigns, etc. In addition, the CRM solution allows you to track customers' online activity. An added value to identify what they need.
Normal segmentation and optimized segmentation
CRM is capable of collecting and storing a large amount of information. Marketers can segment customers much more precisely. There are numerous criteria, from geographic location to financial details, previous interactions, etc. As a result, the messages and content delivered to them are much better targeted and, consequently, receive a better response.
Data-driven marketing
A CRM allows marketers to obtain data-driven information: the results of numerous marketing campaigns measured in figures and reflected in various graphs and charts. This information is a necessary condition for efficient campaign budget allocation and resource adjustment. It can mean tracking the conversions resulting from certain marketing activities and campaigns, and it is certainly useful for determining which campaigns provide the best ROI and should be carried out and which should be dropped.
Examples of CRM systems for sales
A good CRM for sales centralizes and controls all commercial operations. If you choose the right one for your company, you will integrate a tool that will optimize your productivity.
Here are some of the best systems for managing sales in your business:
1. Venzo, a CRM for sales that strengthens sales teams.
Venzo CRM focuses on the present. Its goal is to increase sales in the present day. It works to identify each customer at all times, with a focus on closing transactions. Venzo operates in a simple and agile way. The user concentrates his attention on the customer and sales, and does not need to think about the CRM, because it guides him.
The software manages emails, telephones and visits, stimulating and protecting business relationships, always with a focus on customers and their demands. It integrates technological intelligence and automatisms that contribute to customer satisfaction. It keeps in memory all records of customer data and operations performed.
And if we talk about control, the manager or entrepreneur visualizes at any time the status of the situation of his business.
Web: Venzo
2. Clientify, the CRM in sales enhanced with marketing actions
The customer generation process is at the heart of Clientify's operations. It accompanies the transformation of the lead into a customer. It suggests interventions at the right time, avoiding deal leakage.
This software integrates a social search tool with all the public information of each contact on the Internet. Its 360-degree vision professionalizes customer service and increases customer satisfaction. It integrates functionalities for the implementation of email marketing strategies and landig pages.
A powerful dashboard centralizes the control of the status of sales actions and salespeople. And it also allows connections with more than a thousand applications.
How much does it cost? The Premium Plan costs 39 € per month. It includes up to 10,000 contacts.
Web: Clientify
3. Repcamp, up to date with the latest technological advances
Order management and sales opportunity tracking are smart features of Repcamp. The salesperson has everything he needs to serve a customer on the screen at the click of a button. It reduces the risk of error in order management and keeps the whole team up to date with the product catalog, prices and stock.
Automation saves time on administrative tasks and allows time to be spent on what really matters: selling.
Focuses on the mobility of the salesperson. Flexible, agile and adapted to the needs of the business, Repcamp is an excellent CRM option for sales.
How much does it cost to work with Repcamp? It comes in 4 versions. One is free, available for 1 user. The other three cost £16, £36 and £56. They vary in allowed users and functionalities.
Web: Repcamp
4. Salesnet, a CRM for sales that ensures effectiveness in commercial operations
Salesnet is a flexible and customizable business solution. It focuses its operations on sales and marketing. Its workflow engine anticipates actions to be taken and generates sales opportunities. It moves salespeople to plan their next intervention, based on the customer's situation in the sales process.
Salesnet integrates with various external applications and platforms, increasing the chances of success. It incorporates valuable tools not only for salespeople, but also specific tools for administrators. Its control panel allows the visualization of the status of negotiations at all times. In addition, it generates essential reports for improvement.
5. Citrix Podio, with optimized lead and transaction control
Citrix Podio emphasizes collaboration and sharing for improvement. The idea is to keep the database permanently updated with the records of all users. The sales force always has up-to-date information on leads and customers. With integrated web forms, Podio captures contact information and assigns it to teams.
The Citrix CRM for sales is easy to configure and customize. It doesn't overload the team with data they don't need, as you can enable only the data that is useful to their role. It allows you to add files and integrates with applications such as Google Drive and ShareFile. This makes it possible to share records and closed agreements with the team.
Product sheet: Citrix Podio
6. Forcemanager. Take your company to the next level with this CRM for sales.
Forcemanager is an excellent sales assistant that has a direct impact on results. The intelligence applied to the commercial area, detects latent opportunities and potential clients. It facilitates the increase of sales and the conversion of potential clients into portfolio clients.
Suitable for mobility, it is ideal for teams located in multiple locations. Records information anytime, anywhere. Allows immediate access to the most important data before, during and after each customer visit. Plans sales campaigns and commercial follow-up. Manages the flow and detects improvement points.
Forcemanager collaborates in the decision making of the company, from monitoring and reports of the team results.
Product sheet: Forcemanager
7. Ines CRM. Accelerate the growth of your company.
Ines CRM has an organized historical record of email exchanges, appointments and transactions with each customer. It points out relevant business opportunities, allows you to manage budgets and projects. All customer relationship control is centralized in this CRM for sales.
It favors the productivity of the sales force, as it gathers all the data coming from the different areas of the company. In this way, no information about the customer escapes the eyes of the salesperson. More knowledge results in better service and, as a consequence, in customer satisfaction.
Web: Ines CRM
Conclusion
We focused on the role of CRM in sales and marketing, and listed the benefits in both areas. However, one of the advantages of a customer relationship management system is to bring all employees together, enabling and encouraging cooperation and data sharing, rather than creating data silos within individual departments or competing with each other. This software is no longer limited to large corporations. It is now widely used by all types of companies, thanks to the variety of solutions tailored to different needs. SMEs are also adopting CRM systems, as they streamline their processes, optimize the need for additional manpower and help build lasting relationships with their customers.